Piano Quartets (Beethoven)


The Piano Quartets, WoO 36, by Ludwig van Beethoven are a set of three piano quartets, completed in 1785 when the composer was aged 15. They are scored for piano, violin, viola and cello. He composed a quartet in C major, another in E-flat major, and a third in D major. They were first published posthumously in 1828, however numbered in a different order: Piano Quartet No. 1 in E-flat major, Piano Quartet No. 2 in D major, and Piano Quartet No. 3 in C major.

History

When Beethoven composed these three piano quartets at age 15 the genre was rare. Two works by Mozart, Piano Quartet No. 1 in G minor and Piano Quartet No. 2 in E-flat major, are the only significant contemporary contributions that are comparable. Beethoven modeled his piano quartets after a set of Mozart violin sonatas published in 1781, with Beethoven's C major work written in the same key and borrowing some thematic material from Mozart's Violin Sonata No. 17, K. 296. Apart from Beethoven's own arrangement of his Quintet for Piano and Wind Instruments for piano quartet, these three works are the only compositions he wrote for piano, violin, viola, and cello.
Beethoven later reused material from the C major quartet for two of his early Piano Sonatas: No. 1 and No. 3. In Beethoven's original manuscript, the work in C major comes first, followed by E-flat major and D major. When the quartets were published after his death by Artaria in Vienna, there were in a different order: E-flat major, D major and C major.

Structure and music

Each quartet is in three movements. They are listed in the order of the original manuscript:

Piano Quartet in C major, No. 3

  1. Allegro vivace
  2. Adagio con espressione
  3. Rondo: Allegro
In the exposition of the first movement, Beethoven wrote a piano sonata with string accompaniment, but in the development and recapitulation, they play a more individual role. The third movement is in rondo form. The theme is introduced by the piano and then taken by the violin. The first episode is accompanied by plucked strings. A second episode is in A minor.
Beethoven reused the theme of the second movement for the Adagio of his Piano Sonata in F minor, Op. 2/1. He also reused material from the first movement of his Piano Sonata in C major, Op. 2/3, dedicated to Joseph Haydn in 1796.

Piano Quartet in E-flat major, No. 1

  1. Adagio assai
  2. Allegro con spirito
  3. Theme and variations: Cantabile
In the second quartet, the piano and the strings are equal partners. It opens unusually with an Adagio assai movement. The second movement is in sonata form, in E-flat minor. Some elements seem to anticipate the last movement of the Piano Sonata No. 8, the Pathétique. The finale movement is in seven variations on a theme.

Piano Quartet in D major, No. 2

  1. Allegro moderato
  2. Andante con moto
  3. Rondo: Allegro
The quartet in D major begins, more conventionally than the others, with a movement in sonata form, with a rather short development section. The second movement, marked Andante con moto, is in F-sharp minor, but a middle section in A major. The final movement is a rondo, with a theme introduced by the piano and repeated by the violin. The episodes are contrasting, and recall similar movements by Mozart.

Recordings

The piano quartets were recorded by the New Zealand Piano Quartet in 2005 and by the Milander Quartet in 2013.